Whether you’ve used a Christmas cake recipe (opens in new tab) to make your own base or are saving time by decorating a shop-bought cake, this beautiful design is surprisingly easy to put together.
Silver dragees (sugar pearls) and white trim look great with the snowy design, but you could also add warmth by switching them up with gold sugar pearls and a red or tartan ribbon.This snowflake cake design would work just as well with a simple vanilla or lemon sponge base – or even a decadent chocolate cake.
Ingredients
675g shop-bought marzipan
675g shop-bought sugar paste
100-125g white sugar paste
Edible lustre dust
Silver dragees
Snowflake cookie cutters
WEIGHT CONVERTER
grams
to
cups
Method
When you're ready to decorate your Christmas cake; roll out the marzipan. You can use our handy guide on how to cover a cake in marzipan (opens in new tab) for our top tips. Once you've covered the cake in marzipan, finish with a layer of sugar paste or white fondant.
Knead the sugar paste to soften it and then roll it out on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar. Tip some of the lustre dust onto the sugar paste and brush it over the surface, using a dry paintbrush.
Use the cutters to cut out snowflakes in assorted sizes. Re-roll the sugar paste as necessary to get enough flakes, and don’t worry about the lustre dust on it, just knead it in and then brush some more on top before cutting out the next flakes.
Brush a little water where the dragees are to be stuck and press them into place. Mix some of the white sugar paste with water to form a sticky glue. Use this to stick layers of snowflake together and to fix them on the cake. Wrap a ribbon around the cake.
Top tips for making this snowflake cake
Edible glitter adds that extra sparkle to the snowflakes. Avoid cold marble surfaces when rolling out sugar paste, as this makes it harder to work with.
Rosie Hopegood is a former professional chef turned journalist with a passion for veggie food. She spent several years working as a chef aboard superyachts, catering for the culinary demands of the very rich and sometimes famous. She also worked as a private chef in the Swiss Alps, the Scottish Highlands, and the Balearic Islands. Later, she spent five years looking after the food pages at Reach Plc’s magazines. Rosie lives in New York and writes for Al Jazeera, Sunday Telegraph, and The Guardian.
Butterfly buns
